Cholula
The incredible Pirámide Tepanapa looks more like a hill than a pyramid, but it's still the town's big draw, and with miles of tunnels veining the inside…
Must-see attractions in Mexico
Guadalajara
Guadalajara’s cathedral is the city’s most conspicuous landmark with distinctive neo-Gothic towers built after an earthquake toppled the originals in…
Guachimontones Archaeological Site
Guadalajara
Just 40km west of Guadalajara is the fascinating and distinctive archaeological site known as Guachimontones – one of the only ancient ruins in the world…
Oaxaca City
Gorgeous Santo Domingo is the most splendid of Oaxaca’s churches, with a finely carved baroque facade and nearly every square centimeter inside decorated…
Morelia
Morelia’s cathedral, considered by many to be the country's most beautiful, dominates the city center, where it flanks rather than faces the central plaza…
Monterrey
Blast Furnace No 3 in the former industrial site of the Parque Fundidora has been converted into Horno3, an exceptionally impressive high-tech, hands-on…
Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
Coyoacán & San Ángel
If you saw the movie Frida (2002), you’ll recognize this museum, designed by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's friend, architect and painter Juan O’Gorman…
Taxco
The icon of Taxco, Santa Prisca is one of Mexico’s most beautiful and striking pieces of baroque architecture. Its standout feature (best viewed side-on)…
Coyoacán & San Ángel
The Trotsky home, now a museum, remains much as it was on the day when one of Stalin's agents, a Catalan named Ramón Mercader, caught up with the…
Mérida
A world-class museum celebrating Maya culture, the Gran Museo houses a permanent collection of more than 1100 remarkably well-preserved artifacts,…
Guadalajara
One of the city's most important churches, the Basílica de Zapopan, built in 1730, is home to Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, a petite statue of the Virgin…
Mazunte
This rocky cape, jutting out from the west end of Mazunte beach, is the southernmost point in the state of Oaxaca and a fabulous place to hike at sunset…
Toluca
At the northeast end of Plaza Garibay, the stunning and unique Cosmovitral Jardín Botánico was built in 1909 as a market. The building now houses 3500 sq…
Teotihuacán
The Pyramid of the Moon, at the north end of the Calzada de los Muertos, is smaller than the Pirámide del Sol, but more gracefully proportioned. Completed…
Monterrey
This stunning mountainside reserve is just 12km from downtown Monterrey. There's great hiking and mountain-biking on over 60km of well-marked trails…
Acapulco
The Fuerte de San Diego is home to this excellent 15-room museum, an enjoyable romp through history of the region, from its settlement by various pre…
Cuernavaca
Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to be independently wealthy and spend their life traveling around the world collecting art for their lavish Mexican…
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán's third-largest pyramid is the most ornate. The four surviving steps of the facade (there were originally seven) are adorned with striking…
Monterrey
The stunning 2.3km promenade of Paseo Santa Lucía is a world-class example of urban regeneration. This (artificial) river forms a turquoise ribbon through…
Monterrey
This sleek modernist museum on the Plaza 400 Años presents an extensive but easily manageable chronological history of Mexico. In the heart of the museum…
Veracruz City
Any exploration of Veracruz has to begin with its zócalo (also called the Plaza de Armas and Plaza Lerdo), the city’s unofficial outdoor ‘stage’ where…
Reserva de la Biosfera Pantanos de Centla
Tabasco
This 3030-sq-km biosphere reserve protects a good part of the wetlands around the lower reaches of two of Mexico’s biggest rivers, the Usumacinta and the…
Northeast Mexico
Located within the Cuatrociénegas Reserve, these blinding-white gypsum sand dunes – the second largest in North America – contrast superbly with the six…
Puebla
Puebla’s impressive cathedral, which appeared on Mexico’s M$500 bill until 2019, occupies the entire block south of the zócalo. Its architecture is a…
San Luis Potosí
This excellent museum devoted to the work of Mexican artist Federico Silva (b 1923) should not be missed. The 17th-century building was once a hospital…
Veracruz
Only discovered in the early 1990s, this beautiful site dates back to AD 600–900 and was once home to peoples unknown. It consists of temples, platforms…
Veracruz
The remains of a major Totonac settlement of around 30,000 people date back to around AD 1200 and sit on the outskirts of modern-day Zempoala, reachable…
East of Mexico City
Inside the Palacio de Gobierno there are color-rich murals of Tlaxcala's history by Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin. His style is vividly realistic and…
Mazatlán
Mazatlán's restored old town is a picturesque compendium of noble 19th-century buildings and pretty plazas. It's set back from Playa Olas Altas, a small…
Zona Arqueológica de Iglesia Vieja
Chiapas
Believed to be the regional capital of the Zoque during the Classic period, these ruins were inhabited between AD 250 and AD 400. The site's most…
The Copper Canyon & Ferrocarril Chihuahua Pacífico
Around 7km east of San Ignacio's town center, through verdant farmland, is the Valle de los Monjes. A spectacular outcrop of vertical red rock formations…
Museo Internacional del Barroco
Puebla
This monumental white, architecturally spectacular museum is dedicated to the showy baroque movement – art, fashion, music and literature. The museum,…
San Cristóbal de las Casas
An atmospheric museum-research center, Na Bolom for many years was the home of Swiss anthropologist and photographer Gertrude Duby-Blom (Trudy Blom; 1901…
Veracruz
El Tajín’s most emblematic structure, the beautifully proportioned Pyramid of the Niches, is just off the Plaza Menor. The six lower levels, each…
Cabo San Lucas
Land’s End is the most impressive attraction in Cabo. Hop on a panga (skiff), kayak or stand-up paddleboard and head to El Arco (the Arch), a jagged…
Mulegé
One of the most stunningly beautiful stretches of coast in Baja for its blue-green waters, white sandy coves and lack of construction. Great for kayaking…
San Luis Potosí
This superb museum displays a fascinating collection of ceremonial masks from across Mexico and around the world, and does a good job at explaining the…
Southern Baja
Along with Laguna Ojo de Liebre and Bahía Magdalena, Laguna San Ignacio is one of the Pacific coast’s major winter whale-watching sites. The Mexican…
La Paz
A treasure trove of shallow azure inlets and sorbet-pink cliffs, Espíritu Santo is one of La Paz’s gems. It’s part of a Unesco World Heritage site…
Chiapas
To take your evening paseo (stroll) with the locals, stop by this leafy plaza, just eight blocks west of Plaza Cívica. The whole city seems to turn out…
